Daniel “The Directive” Cain – Syndicate HQ, Birmingham, England

November 9th, 2012

Dietger wrestle with the coarse ropes that bound his hands and feet to the chair bolted to the floor. Blood dripped from cuts on his face and from the side of his mouth as his face contorted in frustration. Around his neck sat a dog collar, and the moment he tried to utilise his ability, his voice descended into a gargle as electricity surged into his throat. In front of him, his sister lay strapped into a surgery looking table, a variety of torture tools waiting on a trolley next to her. He wanted to yell out at her, to save her, but he could barely move an inch.

“You’ll kill yourself before you even get anywhere,” Daniel reminded the boy, moving into his field of vision and staring him directly in the eye, “so tell me, where is she?”

Dietger spat in Daniel’s face, “Screw you!”

“Fine then,” he wiped the spit from his face, turning on his heels to the distraught Maria on the table behind. Reaching for a tool, he bent over her hand, twisting and pulling his hand until she screamed through the gag. He dropped the set of pliers back on the tool bench, a fingernail stuck between its teeth before turning back to Dietger.

“Now tell me, where is she?”

Looking past the Directive, he could barely make eye contact with his sister across the room, seeing the pain and distraught in her eyes. He knew full well that this man had no qualms hurting the both of them to get the answers he seeks, and every time he rebelled or held back information, Maria would be the one who was punished.

“She’s gone to see an old friend.” It was cryptic, but it was as much information as she had told them before they departed for France.

Maria strained her voice against the gag, almost as if she was trying to yell at Dietger to stop. “She said, she left to see an old friend.”

“Who is it? Where are they?”

“She didn’t say, she didn’t say!” he screamed as the Directive moved towards Maria.

“Are you sure?” Daniel took a knife, holding it over Maria’s exposed chest, watching as Dietger scrunched his eyes as the blade was lowered and pressed against the skin of the squirming Maria. A scream made its way through the gag, prompting Dietger to spill the remainder of the information he had.

“STOP, STOP, STOP!” he screamed at the Directive, his voice faltering near the end as the shock collar sent pulses of electricity into his throat. “She said she had to stop in Australia to pick something up before she continued…” he croaked.

“Go on then, what is it?” Daniel was now intrigued, if she was heading to Australia, then it meant there was only one thing, one person she was after. Darren would be glad to hear of this development, provided that she could actually be the one to do their work for them.

“A girl has the artefact, Demeter’s symbol or something,” he could see the sense of betrayal in his sister’s eyes as he leaked every last drop of information he had, but behind that betrayal he could see the tears begin to form. He was giving up everything for the love of his sister, “that’s all I know,” he dropped his head in despair. She would not forgive him, but his sister was finally safe.

“That wasn’t so hard now, was it,” Daniel smiled, waving his hand and releasing the both of them from the illusion he had cast. They were sitting opposite each other, tied to what looked like leather office chairs with minimal rope. The collar around his neck disappeared, replaced with what looked like a blinking LED. Maria’s fingernails were all intact, blood slowly dripping from under the one that had seemingly been pulled. “It’s amazing what tricks the human mind can play… given the right push, that is.”

They were still locked in some sort of prison cell; Dietger’s scream only proving that the place was not only well soundproofed, but also reverberated any sound they made, bouncing his ability back at him. Even the resin plated, thick glass that allowed the Directive to see into their cell would not bend to his piercing scream. Daniel smirked from the other side of the glass, leaving his prisoners behind.